Winter TV: ‘Counterpart’ (Starz)

Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons) works as a low-level employee at a Berlin-based spy agency when he discovers his employers are protecting an opening to a parallel dimension. In the other dimension, he meets his counterpart named Prime (J.K. Simmons) in this sci-fi thriller created by Justin Marks

What The Critics Say (Metascore 77)

Counterpart, the compelling new Starz drama that’s mostly an old-school espionage thriller with a little bit of sci-fi tossed in and, we shall see, maybe an existential exploration of identity, is a hodgepodge of interesting ideas that drag you forward into the confusing narrative, with one central and undeniable hook: J.K. Simmons. — TimGoodman, The Hollywood Reporter

But just as there are two Howard Silks, there are essentially two Counterparts: the spy drama with science fiction trappings, and the character study with same. Spy Howard often has to carry bureaucrat Howard through the latest crisis, and the character version of Counterpart can more than carry the spy story when it starts to feel too pokey. — Alan Sepinwall, UPROXX